What Happens If The Coolers Break At Costco

If you're a frequent shopper at Costco, you're surely familiar with its wholesale philosophy and warehouse logistics (don't ask employees to check the back of the store!). But have you ever wondered what happens to the massive quantities of food the store sells if the coolers break? Meat, dairy, frozen foods, and even some of its many pre-prepared meals depend on the low temperatures of refrigerators and freezers, so does Costco have a plan in case the equipment goes kaput? We don't have access to the chain's official protocols, so we settled for the next best thing — insider info on Reddit. According to several commenters, Costco does have a backup plan, so the food doesn't have to be tossed.

Prevention is always better than cure, and Costco seems to agree. Alleged insiders report that the employees are regularly checking the temperatures of the coolers to make sure everything is working properly and to catch potential malfunctions as quickly as possible. Some have also noted that Costco has an alarm in place that goes off if the coolers are compromised, instantly alerting the management that something is wrong. The FDA's food safety code instructs that food should be discarded within four hours after it's removed from a controlled temperature, but one Redditor says Costco's internal policy is two hours. This limit, paired with a good alert system, gives the employees plenty of time to react when something goes awry.

Because of the preventive measures put in place, errors are caught swiftly. On Reddit, purported Costco employees say that when the coolers break, the food is immediately placed elsewhere. As to where, reports differ. Food can apparently be moved to a working cooler that's just in a different section of the store, but some locations also have a refrigerator truck they can use in emergencies.

One of the reasons why coolers could suddenly stop working is a power outage. According to one Redditor who claimed to be a Costco employee, all locations have a backup generator. When power outages are anticipated ahead of time or are expected to last longer, some Costco warehouses bring in massive generators to keep everything running. But even with the help of these machines, plenty of food still needs to be moved to temporary coolers, so we can say with certainty that the employees have their hands full when the coolers malfunction — regardless of the reason.

When food cannot be preserved long enough to be sold, Costco will reportedly try to donate it, especially if the warehouse has an existing relationship with local churches or charities. And while it's possible that sometimes the food also needs to be thrown away, the worst-case scenario thankfully appears to be a rarity.